The Tata Nano is a city car launched by India's Tata Motors at the 9th annual Auto Expo on January 10, 2008 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India. Tagged as the people’s car in Tata's promotional material, it is projected to be the least expensive production car in the world.The standard version of the Nano (without air conditioning, radio or power steering) is projected to cost Rs 100,000 (not including levies such as VAT/LT/FCIT, transport and delivery charges) ($2500 USD, £1277 GBP, €1700 EUR), The choice of price has led to the Nano beincalled the "one lakh car" (after the Indian numbering term, meaning '100,000').
The project to create a 1 lakh rupee car began in 2003, under the Chairman of Tata Motors, Ratan Tata. The strategy behind the project was the awareness of the number of Indian families who had two wheeled transport, but couldn't afford a four wheel car and was based on the company's success in producing the low cost 4 wheeled Ace truck in May 2005.
Industry convention was that a reliable car couldn't be made at such a low price, so initial media speculation was that the car would be a simple four-wheeled auto rickshaw. However, The Times of India reports that the vehicle is "a properly designed and built car". The Chairman is reported to have said, "It is not a car with plastic curtains or no roof -- it's a real car."
During development the company reinvented and minimized the manufacturing process, brought in innovative product design, and asked component manufacturers to look at current work and design approaches in a different perspective to produce logical and simple solutions.
The car was designed at Italy's Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering, with Ratan Tata ordering certain changes during the process, such as reducing the number of windscreen wipers from two to one.
Interiors and exteriors
The Nano has 21% more interior space and an 8% smaller exterior, when compared with its closest rival, the Maruti 800. The car will come in different versions, including one standard and two deluxe variants. The deluxe version will have air conditioning, but no power steering. The car is expected to be produced in the Singur plant in West Bengal, which is under construction. The initial production target set by Tata Motors is 250,000 units per year.
Rear mounted engine
The use of a rear mounted engine to help maximise interior space makes the Nano similar to the original Fiat 500, another technically innovative 'people's car'. A concept vehicle similar in styling to the Nano, also with rear engined layout was proposed by the UK Rover Group in the 1990s to succeed the original Mini but was not put into production . The now-defunct Rover Group later based their City Rover on the Tata Indica while the eventual 'new Mini' was the much larger, technically conservative Mini (BMW).
Technical specifications
According to Tata Group's Chairman Ratan Tata, the Nano is a 33 PS (33 hp/24 kW) car with a 623 cc rear engine and rear wheel drive, and has a fuel economy of 4.55 L/100 km (21.97 km/L, 51.7 mpg (US), 62 mpg (UK)) under city road conditions, and 3.85 L/100 km on highways (25.97 km/L, 61.1 mpg (US), 73.3 mpg (UK)). It is the first time a two-cylinder non-opposed petrol engine will be used in a car with a single balancer shaft. Tata Motors has reportedly filed multiple patents related to the innovations in the design of Nano, with powertrain design alone having 34 patents.The head of Tata Motors' Engineering Research Centre, Girish Wagh has been credited with being one of the brains behind Nano's design
According to Tata, the Nano complies with Bharat Stage-III and Euro-IV emission standards.
Powertrain
* Engine:
o 2 cylinder petrol with Bosch multi-point fuel injection (single injector) all aluminium 623 cc (38 cu in)
o 2 valves per cylinder overhead camshaft
o Compression ratio - 9.5:1
o bore × stroke 73.5 × 73.5 mm
o Power: 33 PS (33 hp/24 kW) @ 5500 rpm[16]
o Torque: 48 N·m (35 ft·lbf) @ 2500 rpm
* Rear wheel drive, 4-speed manual transmission
* Steering – mechanical rack and pinion
Performance (Manufacturer Claims)
* Acceleration: 0-70 km/h (43 mph): 14 seconds
* Maximum speed: 105 km/h (65 mph)[1]
* Fuel economy (combined City + Highway): 20 kilometres per liter (5 L/100 km, 47 US mpg, 56 UK mpg)[2]
Body and dimensions
Used Car Market Affects
The Nano is alleged to have severely affected the used car market in India, as many Indians opt to wait for the Nano's release rather than buying a secondhand car of the Nano's nearest competitor, the Maruti 800 (a rebadged Suzuki Alto). Sales of new 800's have dropped 20%, and 30% for used models. As one automotive journalist surmizes: “People are asking themselves – and us - why they should pay, say, 250,000 rupees for a new Maruti Alto, when they can wait and get a brand new Nano for less in a few months’ time, a car that is actually bigger”.
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